Apple Exceeds Q3 Expectations, But Weak Outlook and Rising Costs Concern Investors

Apple beat market expectations with its latest quarterly results on Thursday, thanks to strong sales of iPhones and Mac computers, capping Tim Cook's final earnings report as CEO.

However, investors focused on Apple’s weaker-than-expected outlook and warnings about supply constraints. The company forecast revenue growth of between 9% and 11% in the current quarter, below analysts’ expectations of around 12%.

The strong quarter was also clouded by rising memory-chip costs and shortages of advanced chipmaking capacity, partly linked to the artificial intelligence boom.

Apple previously described the surge in demand as an “unprecedented challenge” for the consumer electronics industry.

As a result, Apple announced last month that it would raise prices for some Mac and iPad models. It has not yet increased iPhone prices, although analysts expect it could do so later this year.

The maker of the iPhone and iPad said on Thursday that it earned $29.79bn (€25.9bn), or $2.02 per share, during the April-to-June period. That was up 27% from $23.43bn (€20.4bn), or $1.57 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue grew 16% to $109.42bn (€95.2bn) from $94.04bn (€81.8bn).

Revenue from iPhone sales rose by 21.7% to a quarterly record of $54.25bn (€47.2bn), while Mac revenue climbed by 28.7% to $10.35bn (€9bn).

Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $1.89 per share on revenue of around $109bn (€94.8bn), according to a FactSet poll. Tariff refunds contributed $0.11 per share to Apple’s earnings.

"Today, Apple is proud to report our strongest June quarter ever, with double-digit revenue growth across iPhone, Mac and Services, and in every geographic segment," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO.

It was Cook's final earnings call before he steps down as chief executive after 15 years. John Ternus, Apple's head of hardware engineering, will take over on 1 September.

"I couldn't be more confident in his leadership, in the executive team and the extraordinary people at Apple," Cook said.

Apple continues to generate cash without the massive artificial intelligence spending facing its Big Tech peers, “and that showed across most parts of the operation,” said Thomas Monteiro, an analyst at Investing.com.

“As the market grows more worried about free cash flow trajectories elsewhere in Big Tech, Apple keeps standing out as the safe haven in the storm.”

But he cautioned that rising memory costs could challenge Apple in the coming quarters.

Cook described the surge in memory prices as a “100-year flood”, saying Apple expected its memory costs to rise further during the current quarter.

The company will also no longer benefit from the tariff refunds that boosted its latest profit margin. September’s iPhone launch and potential further price increases should “help cushion the hit”, Monteiro said.

Shares in Apple fell by as much as 8% in after-hours trading on Thursday before recovering some of those losses.